Rough Edges and a Need for Love
by brooklity
Summary: Opposites don't just attract; they need each other to exist. Sasuke and Naruto, freshly graduated genin need each other to survive the unforgiving ninja world and their own hardships. Sasuke x Naruto slow burn relationship fic that touches on their emotional problems but doesn't leave the shinobi aspect behind. Starts out as friendship, might evolve into SasuNaru later; undecided.
1. 1 - Yin and Yang

**Rough Edges and a Need for Love**

**Summary**: Opposites don't just attract; they need each other to exist. Sasuke and Naruto, freshly graduated genin need each other to survive the unforgiving ninja world and their own hardships. This is a Sasuke x Naruto slow burn relationship fanfiction that touches on their emotional problems but doesn't leave the shinobi aspect behind. Starts out as friendship and might stay that way or might develop further into SasuNaru, that's not decided yet.

Hello! So basically, this is one of those fics where I try to illustrate Sasuke and Naruto's relationship as kind of a codependency thing. They both have problems and imperfections, and they're challenged along the way in what I want to be a really intense ninja setting.

They're young and still figuring themselves out so I'm not sure if I want to make it a SasuNaru thing or not, but it'll for sure start as only friendship and is pretty slow burning. I'm pretty sure I've seen fics like these before like ones where they live together and what not, but I thought I'd give it a try myself.

I'm trying to portray them as not too OOC and more loyal to their original designs, but there's no avoiding some of my own interpretation of the characters from leaking through, taking into account I'll also be straying away sometimes from the original Naruto storyline, it'll be harder to keep them in character but I'll try my hardest.

For those of you that know me, I do have another fic that is incomplete that I've wanted to complete and I might, I'm just very blocked in that regard and want to find inspiration elsewhere.

Anyway, I'm done with my rambling, if you post a review I'll respond here and yeah, enjoy and let me know if you're interested in more!

* * *

**1 -** **Yin and Yang**

Inside a rackety old looking three story building, at the top most floor, a blonde whiskered boy was crying his feelings away as he usually did. People always said he wore his feelings on his sleeve, and in a way it was true. When he was little, he'd always say to himself that he was a strong boy and that he was good at not showing his emotions, and nowadays he'd say the same and he wouldn't be lying, he didn't really show his emotions to others, well, the negative ones anyway; some of his smiles and happy moments were genuine.

However, just like most days, he broke down when he entered his apartment. As soon as the door closed his feelings came pouring out. He didn't want to let the villagers win; he wouldn't let them. They couldn't see that their torment did affect him, that he did feel alone, that he did cry. After all, if they saw it would mean that they succeeded; and Uzumaki Naruto was better than that.

His heart clenched painfully as sobs racked throughout his body. This pain, the pain in his heart was worse than any of the injuries he'd gotten, it was more painful than a paper cut or a knee scrape.

This feeling, the one he felt everyday was slowly consuming him. He loved his home, he had some people that he could call his loved ones, in a way; Hokage-jii, Iruka-sensei, some of the ANBU. But even then, he didn't really have any friends and of course he had no family either.

He was an orphan; not only did he not have parents, he didn't have any siblings, cousins, grandparents or uncles and aunts to speak of either.

And worse of all? He knew nothing of them either. There were no pictures to look at, no names to think of, no second-hand memories to laugh to himself about.

That wasn't the only thing he didn't know though. The entire village - save for a few select people – seemed to hate him, and he didn't have a single clue as to why. Even before he had started doing silly pranks for attention, people had seemed to avoid and glare at him. They had never really gone into the realm of physical violence against him apart from a few shoves and pushes and just once or twice a slap, since the Hokage had put forth laws for his protection; however, these laws didn't protect him from the emotional damage, which in his opinion was worse than any physical injury could be.

The glares, the whispered insults, the looking-away-from-him-because-he-must-be-hideous, all of these things were worse to him than anything else. He knew parents told their kids to not hang out with him, he had heard them call him a demon or a monster, and he knew there was some sort of secret he wasn't being let in on. To him it felt like some sort of sick joke; like everybody would one day say, "Gotcha, we were just kidding and thought avoiding you would make for a nice laugh! We're cool right?", he laughed sadly to himself, yeah, of course that was not happening.

At times like these, looking out from his window, at the starry and rainy night and at the faces etched on the side of Hokage Mountain, he liked to think the Fourth Hokage was his father, and that he'd hold him as it rained, petting his hair and whispering soothing words in his ear.

It was a dumb fantasy, since the only similarity they shared was the blonde hair and the blue eyes, but as an orphan who had never known his parents, he had made his own little family up, just to have a group of people to dream of.

In reality, pretend dad or not, he just wanted to be held for once, by anybody.

* * *

A few blocks down from said apartment building, was a distinct series of structures. The buildings stood proud and the walls looked spotless. Of course, this is what an average person would think; because if you really stopped to pay attention at said place in detail, you would have noticed the chipped paint, the overgrown grass, the cracked roof tiles, the dirty windows, among other things, that could only really mean one thing – abandonment.

Truth be told, it wasn't a deliberate abandonment, these streets had at one time been bustling with people, they would laugh and talk among themselves in this secluded area, the one that had its own stores and amenities, a testament to the distance the Uchiha clan had slowly taken from the rest of village throughout the years.

The Uchiha compound had been mostly abandoned for a couple of years, ever since one of the biggest tragedies that had ever struck Konohagakure had taken place; the Uchiha Massacre, a ruthless mass killing spree perpetrated by one of their own, Uchiha Itachi. The massacre had only left one survivor, the killer's smaller brother, Sasuke. Black hair, black eyes and pale skin, the prominent features of an Uchiha clan member adorned his face.

He was pampered with affection and attention every single day since that fateful day, but he could see the pity in all of their eyes; it angered him to no end that villagers, fangirls, even some shinobi and kunoichi would look at him like that, he didn't need their pity.

And as he sat on his bed, looking out at the dark and rainy night, he pondered about what he really wanted. Well, he wanted a lot of things, like his family back, his Kaa-san and his Tou-san, the two people who had obviously preferred his brother rather than him, because his brother had been a prodigy and he hadn't been; and how ironic that they had been murdered by the prodigy they loved so much.

He let out a disgusted laugh.

Itachi… even though a part of him hated his brother for what he had done, a part of him missed his Nii-san too. They had been close, his brother had been his protector, and he had worked these years to become the image of the Itachi he had admired, not the murdered who had ended the lives of all the clan in cold blood.

As he thought of his brother, he absentmindedly rubbed at his forehead, the spot his dear brother would poke at, an act of endearment he had complained at when he had been foolish and young. He scoffed at himself, he knew these thoughts only drew him further away from the goal he had to accomplish, which was killing his brother. He needed to hate in order to beat him.

He laughed bitterly again at his own feelings. Even if he said he needed to hate, the only thing he wanted in moments like these was someone to hold.

* * *

Yin and Yang. Black and White. The Moon and the Sun. Some would say opposites attract, but to the Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, there was more than a simple attraction there; there was an inherent relationship that called for these things to be together, to be related and to depend on each other. There's no balance without the spiritual energy of Yin and the physical energy of Yang working in a complementary manner. Things aren't black or white in a way either, they're grey, a mixture of both. A day cycle can't be completed without the Moon and the Sun either, they each show up when the other leaves, but the most beautiful moments happen when they come together as one.

As he looked down at his desk and at the pictures of next year's graduating class of genin, and he looked at Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, all he could see was two opposites, though, maybe they weren't that different after all.

"_Tōmegane no Jutsu," _he whispered in his raspy voice and changed the focus of his eyes to the crystal ball lying innocently on the corner of his desk, switching between the images of both the boys he had been thinking of.

He knew he had failed both of them in a way, he hadn't been able to help make Naruto's life better, having instead opted to keep everything a secret from the boy, for what he thought was his safety, but was he safe when everybody but him knew about some of his secrets? He was aware Naruto had been deeply damaged emotionally, the blonde boy had been living by himself from a very tender age, never knowing proper love, and what he could give the boy himself wasn't much.

On the other hand, he had left Sasuke to fend for himself too. He wasn't as close to the boy as he was to the whiskered piece of sunshine, but he would be a fool to miss the loneliness and pain hiding behind the anger and hatred that were encased in those pure black eyes.

He was growing old and he somehow knew he wouldn't be in the world of the living for much longer, yet he only hoped those two would find each other in a way, for if they didn't do so soon, the Will of Fire he could see inside of them would diminish with them, having been swallowed by their feelings of despair and their profound need of love.

* * *

_A pier, a smile, intertwined fingers, and a glare. _

Naruto woke up with a groan, remembering he had cried himself to sleep with his clothes on the day before. He stood up, opening the curtains to be greeted by a sunny morning, a rainbow in the distance from the rain that had cleared up earlier; he smiled softly at the happy day and started walking to the bathroom, discarding his orange jacket, his black shirt and his pants on the way, getting into the shower.

When he was done, he took a clean pair of clothes and tugged the black shirt over his damp blonde locks, throwing his classic jacket on top of that, opting to leave it open. He then pulled up a new pair of pants and decided to forego his green goggles for the day.

The soft padding of his bare feet on the hardwood floor from the hall that intertwined his room and the kitchen in his apartment was dreadful to him, as he silently said a prayer on his way there, hoping that it would have some food he could have for breakfast.

No such luck.

Completely empty save for an almost empty expired carton of milk.

He sighed and took out his frog wallet he had named Gama-chan from his drawer, hoping he at least had some money left to buy groceries.

No such luck either.

He grumbled and promised to himself to annoy the old man to increase his monthly stipend, though he had tried that before and it hadn't really worked. As he walked out the door on an empty stomach, there was no possible way he would have known that day would change his life forever.

* * *

Well uhhh, let me know what you thought lol, I've been trying to get more into writing but I'm not really sure what the demand is like for Naruto fanfiction now, as I've been missing for a couple, maybe several, maybe a lot of months.

A review would be super helpful, and maybe we'll see each other in a Chapter 2, or maybe not!


	2. 2 - The Seal of Reconciliation

**Rough Edges and a Need for Love**

**Summary**: Opposites don't just attract; they need each other to exist. Sasuke and Naruto, freshly graduated genin need each other to survive the unforgiving ninja world and their own hardships. This is a Sasuke x Naruto slow burn relationship fanfiction that touches on their emotional problems but doesn't leave the shinobi aspect behind. Starts out as friendship and might stay that way or might develop further into SasuNaru, that's not decided yet.

Hi! So, there wasn't a huge response to chapter 1 but I don't really mind, since I'm mostly writing this for myself, but to those who enjoyed and favorited and reviewed and stuff thanks! It means a lot really.

**MileytheARMYotaku: **Thank you so much! I've been looking for a writing style that pleases me and I'm glad some people respond well to this one. I do want to change Sakura somewhat; I know some people consider her useless but I really like her character mostly in Shippuden so I'll try to find a way to make her a more appealing character. Thanks so much for your review!

**TheSlySage:** Yeah Yaoi isn't for everyone, I understand. Thanks for the review still!

**Guest:** It was a little shorter since it was a first chapter and it was kind of a pilot I suppose, this chapter will be longer though! Thank you for reviewing!

* * *

**2 – The Seal of Reconciliation **

Not even glares could make them back off. He treated them coldly in the hope that they'd leave him alone, he didn't want to be cooed over on the way to the academy, it would just make his day that much worse. He scoffed and jumped up onto the roof of one of the many stores of Konoha's main street, glaring down at the old woman that had managed to ruin his morning, saying the usual "_I'm so sorry_." It had been around two years since the massacre and they still treated as it was fresh in his mind.

In reality it did feel fresh to him but they didn't need to know that, and he could do without their daily reminders of the event that had ruined his life.

He jumped through the rooftops of many of Konoha's buildings, being thankful for the lack of villagers that would be bound to annoy him had he stayed down by the street. He looked to his right from across one of the very intersecting paths weaved throughout the village to see a mop of blonde hair he easily recognized as Uzumaki. He scoffed, that idiot got on his nerves but there was something _familiar_ about his behavior, the childish comments and attitude, and the will to never give up, though he'd never say that to the other boy's face. Those traits though, they are traits he had once admired in one of his cousins, but now it just brought upon unwanted memories and irritated him, for it looked oh so fake at times… no, fake wasn't the word, it didn't seem fake, it just seemed _ideal_; who was happy all day?

He turned the other way and kept going on his way to the academy. They were close to graduating, only a year to go until they would take their final graduation exam. He felt confident in his abilities, and couldn't deny he was excited to finally advance in his goal, a jōnin teacher meant he'd get the training he needed, he could only get so far with the various scrolls littered around the compound.

He saw the academy's familiar building and leapt down from the roof he had been standing on before. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked slowly towards the big gates, feeling the gravel shift around his feet. He raised his gaze from the ground to the area outside of the academy to see some familiar faces talking animatedly between each other, something in which he didn't want to participate.

He walked through the busy halls and up the usual staircase to get to his classroom, he slid the door open and only saw a pair of kids there before him. He always arrived on the early side so that wasn't a surprise. He went to his seat on the far-left side of the class and sat down, clasping his hands together in front of his face and closing his eyes.

He must've zoned out for a whole time because he had apparently managed to successfully ignore all his fangirls and he had also managed to somehow skip time to Uzumaki arriving late as always. However, one thing was different from the usual routine; no Iruka-sensei.

Mizuki, the silver-bluish haired chūnin stood in front of the class explaining why Iruka had not been able to attend. This was only the third day their teacher had ever missed class. He scoffed as he saw Uzumaki pouting from the corner of his eye, the blonde obviously preferring Iruka than the fake Mizuki, everybody could see the man was not what he seemed; well, by everybody he meant himself, Nara and Uzumaki.

"Today is a sparring day, so start going outside, I'll be mediating today, so try to behave! I'm not as experienced as Iruka." The instructor said, a fake smile plastered on his face as he began to usher students outside the classroom and onto the gravel covered backside of the academy grounds.

* * *

As they were standing outside Mizuki started calling out sparring pairs and two by two the academy students engaged in friendly fighting, starting out by doing the Seal of Confrontation as they stood facing each other and after participating in the hand to hand combat exercise, doing the Seal of Reconciliation to show their still present comradery.

The rules were simple, you couldn't step outside the chalk circle that was drawn onto the dirt, nor could you use any jutsu, making the spar strictly taijūtsu based. Out of their entire class, Sasuke Uchiha and Kiba Inuzuka excelled in their respective confrontations, mostly because strategizing in such a limited space and without jutsu was easier said than done, thus putting students like Shikamaru Nara and Shino Aburame at a disadvantage.

Whenever Iruka was mediating the hand to hand combat exercises, he would usually pair up Sasuke and Naruto together, ever since that first occasion where they refused to do the Seal of Reconciliation after the Uchiha beat Naruto in just a few seconds. Naruto always itched for more though, to show that he could stand up to the raven-haired boy, proving that he wouldn't always be beat easily, putting up a real fight.

"Sasuke, Uzumaki, please step inside the circle, it's your turn now." Mizuki said, later instructing them both to perform the Seal of Confrontation, which they both flashed at the other with no hesitation, clearly feeling no reservations at letting the other boy know of their willingness to fight.

"Hajime!" They heard, and this would usually signify the moment in which Naruto would jump at Sasuke right away, attacking him blindly and getting beat in the few subsequent moves the raven would perform. However, over their last couple spars, the whiskered pre-teen had learned to take his time first before attacking, searching for an opening like the Uchiha would do.

Sasuke however, was getting irritated at the blonde's distance, growling deep in his throat and glaring at the boy. As they slowly shifted around the circle keeping their distance from each other, he couldn't help but bite out, "Are you going to actually put up a fight this time? Usuratonkachi."

The venom was practically dripping off of his sarcastic tone, making Naruto smile at the raven.

"I'll be damned if I don't at least try, teme," Naruto replied, flashing the other boy a foxy grin though the occasion didn't call for it; Sasuke only glared with more hate if possible.

"What are you smiling for you idiot?! You're about to get beaten again," Sasuke said, taking the first move and moving at an extremely fast speed for the unsuspecting orange clad academy student, that couldn't move in time as he saw the raven rapidly approaching.

At the last second, before Sasuke's fist could collide with his face, he managed to side step the boy in a rough manner, tumbling onto the floor and getting back up again quickly, making dust pick up from under his feet. The Uchiha wasted no time in turning his body back around and aiming a vicious kick at the blonde's head, which ended up hitting the boy's forearms he had managed to put up in defense.

"You're getting faster but you're not anywhere near fast enough, dead last," was what Sasuke proclaimed before he quickly swept his leg under Naruto's, making the boy fall forward and meet the raven's fist on his stomach.

With no intention of simply incapacitating the blonde, which he had done in their previous spars, he continued mercilessly delivering punch after punch aimed at the other boy's sensitive areas, making said whiskered boy cry out in pain.

While all this was happening, the rest of the academy students looked on in silence and shock. From the moment this particular spar started, they had all noticed it was different. The girls were too frozen to cheer for Sasuke as they usually did, making the silence unbearable, the only sounds ever present in the small clearing being those of the Uchiha's fists hitting skin, the blonde responding with minimal sounds.

"Sh-Shouldn't Mizuki-sensei stop this already? Uchiha's gone insane," Kiba whispered to Shikamaru, looking expectantly at him and shifting uncomfortably at the tense atmosphere. Shikamaru's gaze was frozen staring at the fight in front of him, not even sparing a glance to the brunette.

Kiba decided to take matters into his own hands, looking around the clearing in order to tell their instructor to end the spar, however he couldn't find Mizuki anywhere. He cursed and ran off, intent on finding the chūnin.

Sasuke brought Naruto down to the ground, straddling the boy's stomach and delivering a swift punch to his face, the sickening crunch of the boy's mouth against his fist reverberating loud in his ears; he looked down and saw some blood dribbling out of the corner of his mouth. He was about to go in for a second when he realized what he had done, never before had he gone so overboard in a friendly spar, but something about this particular confrontation had made him angry to no end.

He slowly began to get up when Naruto interrupted him, "Giving up already Sasuke-teme?" the smile he said this with was the breaking point for the Uchiha. He grabbed Naruto by the open collar of his jacket, bringing his face up to meet his, glaring at him aggressively.

"Why are you smiling you idiot?! How can you smile?!" he screamed in Naruto's face, shaking the boy viciously.

"Why wouldn't I smile teme!" Naruto replied, as if his crooked smile was the most obvious reaction to their whole situation; to Sasuke though, it just felt like the blonde was mocking him.

He let go of the boy's jacket suddenly, letting him drop back onto the ground with a loud 'oomph' sound as his back hit the gravel flooring beneath him. "At least put me down gently," the blonde mumbled under his breath, getting back up with a small groan, dusting off his clothes, spitting out blood and a tooth he hadn't felt dislodge itself from his mouth. He looked at it in wonder, while the other students cringed.

Sasuke scoffed and turned away, slightly ashamed at his loss of control; he had simply gotten agitated when he saw the blonde's smile. He couldn't think of any reason why the blonde decided to be so happy all the time when from what he knew of the boy he had nothing going for him. He was an orphan and the dead last of the academy, inside of which he had no friends to speak of, so why was he so happy all the time?

Captured in his thoughts, the Uchiha didn't hear Iruka approaching, looking extremely mad and ready to blow up at his young students.

"What's the meaning of this?!" he barked out, looking expectantly at both boys. Sasuke scoffed and averted his eyes from the teachers, while Naruto only looked at his feet, massaging his jaw as his other hand held the small tooth that had freed itself from his mouth.

Seeing as how neither boy was going to answer, the least expected suspect decided to speak up. Hinata Hyūga took a small step to separate herself from the group of onlookers and in a moment of bravery opened her mouth to talk.

"A-ano, Iruka-sensei… Sasuke and Naruto-kun were su-supposed to spar, b-but it got out of hand, and- and Mizuki-sensei left…" she said softly, a blush adorning her face as she spoke, playing with her fingers out of nervousness as she did so.

"Well I'm back now and I'm not going to allow this to go unpunished, you both know an academy spar is a friendly showing of the abilities of Konoha's comrades, I'm willing to bet comradery wasn't really present for this occasion," Iruka said as he crossed his arms over his chest, looking disapprovingly at both boys. Naruto raised his head to meet his sensei's disappointed look and he opened his mouth to protest but the tanned man held up his hand with a look that clearly showed no tolerance, not giving the blonde boy a chance to speak.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto, follow me. The rest of you, go back to class, I'll meet you there for your final period," he said, starting to walk away towards the west wing of the academy building, both boys begrudgingly following behind, Naruto dragging his feet against the ground.

* * *

They arrived at the academy's infirmary, and after a few minutes Naruto was sitting on the green cot by the side as the nurse checked him over, holding his mouth open as the blonde complained in a variety of sounds. Sasuke on the other hand was sitting on one of the chairs that were on the opposite side of the small room, his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.

Iruka stood at the door, his hands on his hips, his eyes still looking at both pre-teens in a disapproving manner.

"I'm going back for the final period of class, but I want you boys there afterwards so you can explain what happened and then we can discuss the appropriate punishment for you both. Sasuke-kun, stay here with Naruto while Kaori-kan checks him over-" he saw Sasuke glare at him as the raven opened his mouth, "and no complaints, seriously what is it with you and complaining all the time?" he asked himself, pinching the bridge of his scarred nose as he released a deep sigh.

"No matter, I'm going. Naruto, don't give Kaori-san too much trouble, ne? Meet me in class after." the chūnin said, as he slid open the infirmary's door and stepped out, sparing his students one final look.

"Mhhhmph, 'm ghna eh guud Ihuka-enhei!" the blonde said, Kaori's gloved fingers in his mouth as she held a piece of gauze against the bleeding gap where the boy's tooth had been.

"Right." Iruka said chuckling as he left the infirmary.

After Iruka left, silence filled the small room, unless you counted Naruto's small whimpers, complaints and incoherent mumblings as words. However, after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, the Uchiha who had been sitting in the chair idly decided to speak up.

"Kaori-san, is the tooth- I mean, is he-" he asked, seemingly uncomfortable, since it was pretty out of character for him to ask about someone's wellbeing, even though he was internally telling himself he didn't care about the blonde's health.

The academy nurse turned around to face him and she smiled softly before addressing the boy, "It's a baby tooth Sasuke-kun, his upper canine if you were wondering; those are normal to lose around this age. So, no adult teeth were lost this time around," she said in a caring manner as she took her fingers out of the blonde's mouth and signaled for him to hold the gauze himself.

"It must have been loose before if it came out from your punch Sasuke-kun, so beat up yourself much about it, accidents happen," she said reassuringly as she placed Naruto's tooth inside a small plastic bag she then handed the boy.

"Here you go Naruto-kun, you can put it under your pillow tonight for the tooth fairy to come get, so it's not all bad right?" she said, Naruto only responding with a small smile and a nod.

Inside though, the boy wasn't smiling, but he wasn't going to sour the mood by mentioning that the "tooth fairy" had never brought him anything or ever taken his teeth in all his previous attempts, something he later learned was due to him not having parents to switch the items as he slept at night.

"Well I have some errands to run so I'm going to leave you boys by yourselves. Naruto-kun, you should hold that in your mouth until the bleeding stops, then you should be good to go, see you around kids! Just don't come too often." she said as she left laughing at her own joke, Naruto responding with a small wave and Sasuke only nodding in understanding.

Silence filled the room once more, neither boy wanting to address the other. Naruto looked down at his lap, his bangs falling over his face to cover his eyes as Sasuke shifted uncomfortably in his seat, scowling but clearly lost in his own mind.

Several minutes passed by and neither boy said anything to the other, choosing instead to stay silent while the only sound inside the room – the constant clicks of the small clock hanging on the wall – kept them company, making the quiet a little more bearable.

Both boys chose that moment to look up at each other, making direct eye contact, vibrant blue meeting pitch black for a moment. The moment only lasted for a second before both boys turned their heads in opposing directions, Naruto then pouting and looking down at his exposed toes, wiggling them and staring them as if they were the most interesting thing in the world, while Sasuke only scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest one more time, not daring to look at the blonde again.

Soon enough, after several more painfully silent minutes had passed, Sasuke had had enough. He knew the blonde wasn't talking because of his missing tooth, otherwise the room would've been filled with the loud high-pitched raspy voice. However, the awkwardness grew too much for the raven to tolerate, so he thought he'd at least get some words out of the blonde; hell, he'd even settle for mumbled, butchered phrases.

"Why?" was all he said, regretting it as soon as the blonde only cocked his head to one side, looking at him with a confused, suspicious gaze.

"Why do you smile all the time? Even when you're clearly in pain, you're always- always smiling… why do you do it?!" he asked, getting irritated towards the end, he glared at the blonde expectantly, since the blonde was taking his sweet time to answer.

Said blonde suddenly got down from the green cot, his sandal clad feet softly meeting the ground. He looked up at the raven as he removed the gauze from his mouth. He flashed him a soft, albeit clearly pained smile.

"Because I have to."

After the words slipped out from the blonde's mouth, the door slid open.

"I thought I told you two to come see me?" Iruka said, leaning against the door frame. Sasuke and Naruto only looked at him silently, not saying a word nor making any sound.

"Well, whatever, now follow me." the tanned instructor said as he led them away from the infirmary and into their class.

* * *

"So, you're saying Naruto isn't at fault?" the chūnin questioned, clearly surprised at the turn of events, he leaned back in the chair that was positioned behind the desk.

Sasuke nodded slowly. He might've been annoyed at the blonde for this particular occasion and in their general but minimal interactions, but he wasn't dishonest, and he couldn't really tell Iruka the reason he had lashed out against the blonde had been that stupid smile of his, the one he couldn't understand.

"That makes sense, no offense Naruto, but you haven't really put up a fight against Sasuke yet, so this is more understandable." he said, making the blonde pout and complain.

"Well Sasuke-kun, I'm afraid that being that violent in an academy spar, against one of your comrades is not a light offense, to be honest, I expect more from the top student, and I expected more from you as Uchiha Sasuke, nonetheless, since I'm sure Naruto forgives you, you'll only be tasked with cleaning the classroom after classes for an entire week." Iruka said sternly, authority clear in his voice. In response, the Uchiha nodded, not letting any distaste mar his features, letting his teacher know he both understood and accepted the punishment.

"Can we go nowww?" the blonde asked, dragging on his sentence in a pitiful pleading manner.

"Yes-" at this both of his students stood up, "but, I want you to do the Seal of Reconciliation. You've never done it after any of your spars and up until now I've allowed it every time, but honestly, it's a disgrace to the shinobi code."

"What?! Do we have to? Please Iruka-sensei! I'll do anything but that! I don't want to do the Seal of Reconciliation with the teme!" the blonde said loudly, putting his hands together and doing his best to use his big blue eyes as a begging mechanism.

Sasuke only hn'd in agreement.

"Absolutely. As future ninja, you have to be able to work with your comrades, no matter your differences, and I can see you have a lot of those," Iruka said, not allowing any room for complaints.

Naruto grumbled in annoyance while the raven standing opposite to him, but he did mumble a "fine" at his teacher.

After several moments of no activity by the two pre-teens, Iruka began tapping his foot loudly against the hardwood floor. "Well?" he asked, looking at both boys with a look that said 'I don't have all day.'

Naruto pouted but nonetheless finally held out both of his fingers, already in the position needed for the Seal of Reconciliation. He looked up at Sasuke nervously, internally fearing rejection like the one he had suffered in their first ever academy spar, when he had wanted to befriend the raven that now stood in front of him. He didn't let it show at the time, but he had been hurt when the Uchiha didn't want to do the Seal of Reconciliation that first time, but instead he opted to smile and say something akin to him not having wanted to do it anyway; he had wanted though.

Sasuke followed suit, slowly bringing his own fingers down to meet the blonde's tan ones, the contrast between their skin tones clear as they slowly brought their hands closer to each other. He could see the nervousness plastered in the shorter boy's face, and for a moment it registered that the whiskered cheeks weren't pulled up like they usually were, since there was no smile to speak of in Naruto. He had seen something else other than a smile for a moment, vulnerability; and that mattered to him for some reason.

They finally met in the middle, intertwining their fingers with one another, and for a split second, opposites became one.

* * *

There we go, a longer chapter that really helped me get inspiration back which is what I wanted. The first chapter didn't get much attention and though I don't write for attention, it's pretty motivating to have it there. I don't know where I'm going with this since I normally don't care, and I won't stop or speed up my writing based on favorites or reviews, but I'd at least like more feedback, critiques, comments, whatever, just to see how I'm doing. But yeah, even if I don't get that, it doesn't really matter, and I still really appreciate the ones that are reading, and the ones that have favorited, followed and reviewed, though you don't have to do that for my gratitude, but it helps!

This chapter was a bit OOC in a way for the boys, lots more interaction and maybe not enough bickering save for the beginning, but I wanted to illustrate a critical point in their relationship, since I'm probably going to skip over to academy graduation now.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! Goodbye!


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